Ms Caron McCaffrey:

We have invested significantly in pre-release planning for prisoners because we are cognisant that the prisoner needs to be very well supported in the community in the immediate period after release. Of course, the provision of accommodation and services to prisoners once they leave the custody of the prison is no longer a matter for the Prison Service. However, as I have mentioned, we have significantly invested to ensure the best supports are in place for prisoners when they are released. We have taken action around a number of areas and have made arrangements with the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection to ensure that any prisoner who is eligible for a medical card and is in a position to have applied for and received that medical card before he or she leaves prison has a means of payment and to ensure that anybody who is entitled to social welfare benefit and has made that application in prison is in a position to have a means of payment when he or she is released from custody.

We have also made arrangements with local authorities around housing. There is a person in each local authority with whom we liaise about housing. As the Deputy has pointed out, there are significant issues of homelessness for prisoners who are coming out of our system and particularly around the provision of accommodation to male offenders. Often the local authority is only in a position to put in place hostel accommodation on a nightly basis.